Order From Chaos
by MayaTheGreatish
Summary: 1st fanfic, be nice! KidXOC. Eris is a new meister at the DWMA, and she is the least symmetrical person Kid has ever met! Why has Stein kept her hidden? Wow, summaries ARE hard. M for future language, lemon if you beg in reviews
1. Chapter 1

**First fanfic! I am so psyched (yes, psyched)! Read and review XD keep the criticism constructive, peoples. -Love, Maya**

Chapter One

"Class, your attention, please."

The room went quiet in a hurry; no one wanted Stein to start throwing scalpels around like darts again.

Stein smirked, predicting their thoughts, and started adjusting his screw. "We have a new student joining us today." He scooted his office chair to the door and opened it. "You can come in now."

In stepped a beautiful girl with a big smile on her freckled face. Her hair was a bright red that made Maka Abarn's stomach turn; the color and texture were exactly like her father's.

Stein placed a paternal hand on the new girl's shoulder. "This is Eris."

Maka's hand shot up. "Professor Stein!"

The scientist smirked again. "Yes, Maka?"

"I have a question for Eris."

Eris turned her expectant eyes on Maka. The scythe meister noticed that one of the redhead's eyes was silver, while the other was gold. Kid would never be able to look her in the eye.

"Uhm," Maka began. "Do you know a man named Spirit Albarn?" She was going to skin her father alive, Lord-Death-style.

Before Eris could respond, Stein put in, "Close, but no cigar, Maka."

"What do you mean?" Maka asked, more than a little suspiciously.

Stein squeezed Eris's shoulder again. "Eris is my daughter."

Many jaws hit the floor. "Whaaaat?" came the collective cry, plus Soul and Black*Star waking up with a "Whahuh?"

Eris rolled her mismatched eyes and pushed her long, red waves out of her face. "That's not exactly true, Dad," she scolded Stein. He just grinned evilly. The new girl faced her new classmates and gave them a big, lopsided grin. "Dad was messing around with genetics—you know, cloning, artificial human gestation, usual stuff—and he only had his own and Spirit Albarn's DNA around. Mr. Albarn didn't know. A few chromosomes and gens got mixed up, lost, and gained, and lo and behold, here I am!" She turned her charming, asymmetrical smile on Maka. "I guess we're kind of sisters. Maka, right?"

Maka just looked at her, properly and understandably floored.

Eris addressed the class again. "So, hi," she chirped, bowing quickly. "My name is Eris Stein, and I'm a meister." She smiled again bashfully. "Please take care of me. (1)" Everyone stared.

Stein patted his daughter apparent on the back. "Great. We'll put you on Maka's resonance team, since that's where we put the weirdos, so go sit with them."

The new girl shrugged and made her way to the empty space next to Maka. She sank gracefully into her seat and smiled sheepishly at the blond meister, who just stared back blankly.

Soul leaned into Maka and whispered against her ear, "Awkward." His meister's response was to swipe at him until he pulled away, then rub her ear, blushing furiously.

When she was done doing that, Maka eyed the ginger next to her. Was her story true? Stein was crazy enough to do something like that, sure, but he was also crazy enough to make up and/or go along with a story along those lines, if only to get a rise out of his old partner, Spirit. Maka spent the rest of class tapping her pen on her desk and pondering her would-be sister.

The bell rang eventually, and everyone but Maka, Soul and Eris scrambled to gather their things and go home. Maka stood and went to Eris's seat, laying a hand on her desk.

Eris looked up and smiled at her. "Oh, hi, Maka," she said brightly.

"Hi," Maka answered, gazing down at her assessingly. "So you're my sister. Since when?"

"Seventeen years ago, silly." Eris began collecting her things. Maka placed her hand over a notebook as Eris reached for it.

"You mean you're seventeen years old?" she prodded. "You existed as of seventeen years ago?"

The ginger leaned back easily in her chair and met Maka's green eyes with her mismatched ones. "That's right."

"And where have you been all seventeen years of both of our lives?"

Eris smirked. "Europe." She yanked her notebook out from under Maka's hand and stood, placing it into her stylish bag. "We should get going. Our team trains today, right?"

Maka stepped into her path. "Not until we're done talking." Soul rose from his seat but didn't leave it; he just put his hands into his pockets and observed silently, ready to leap to Maka's aid if need be.

"I'm not lying, Maka." Eris crossed her arms over her chest, her strange eyes boring into Maka's. "Your father has nothing to do with this." She snorted. "Hell, I bet he still doesn't know. Dad probably wants to sneak up and hit him in the face with the news, but Spirit Albarn has no obligation to me whatsoever." She shifted her weight onto one foot. "But I really do think of myself as your sister. I want us to be friends."

Maka only looked at her.

Eris sighed tiredly. "Check my soul if you want, Maka. Ask Dad. Whatever you have to do, just know how serious I am." Her expression darkened a bit. "I'm no liar."

The scythe meister looked into her sister's eyes a moment longer, then at her soul. It was a strange patchwork thing, and Maka could tell that it was usually large and powerful, like the perfect storm. Right now, though, it was withdrawn into Eris's chest, timidly reaching out to Maka, soft like summer drizzle.

She looked away from the new girl's soul and back into her eyes. She maintained the stare a few more seconds, and the ginger bravely held eye contact, though not without squirming a bit. Finally, Maka smiled. "I believe you," she said firmly. Soul's posture relaxed.

Eris positively beamed; seriously, Maka thought she would go blind. Eris took her hands in her own and squeezed. "Thank you," she said softly, fervently.

Maka grinned, then looked past her at Soul. "What are you lollygagging for?" she called. "We've got training to do."

The scythe smirked down at her, then jumped over the flight of stairs to land in front of Maka, not a foot from her, his hands still in his pockets. He leaned in close to her, all up in her bubble, and said coolly, "Then let's go."

Soul stepped casually around his wide eyed meister and sauntered out of the room. Eris caught Maka's eye and raised an eyebrow at her.

Maka flapped her hand dismissively. "I dunno," she answered her sister's silent question. "He just… does that, stuff like that, sometimes; more and more these days. He fell when he tried that last week."

The redhead raised both her eyebrows at this. Maka didn't see; she had started toward the door. "C'mon," she said over her shoulder. "It's your first training session. You're on our resonance team, and we won't tolerate any less than the best."

Eris threw a lopsided grin at her sister's back. "Sure."

* * *

**A/N: (1) I tried to use a translation of "yoroshiku onegaishimasu." I think it suits Eris.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I feel like this took me forever! I hate slow updates, and I don't want to do that to (all three of) my darling readers!**

Chapter 2

"Alright, everyone," Stein deadpanned, looking around the clearing in the woods at the team. "Focus today's training on getting used to and resonating with Eris."

Kid could not stop staring at the new meister, his eyes comically wide. Black*Star elbowed him in the ribs and he didn't even feel it.

"What's wrong, Kid?" he asked conspiratorially. "Checkin' out the new girl?"

Kid's eye twitched. "She's so…"

"Hot?" That she was, Kid agreed from an objective standpoint; her figure was somewhere between Tsubaki's and Patty's, and the alignment of her facial features left little to be desired. However…

"Asymmetrical!" Kid hissed through his teeth. Black*Star snorted. Eris glanced their way and gave them a shy, lopsided smile. Kid winced.

Black*Star stepped forward, getting in her face. "What kinda meister are you, anyway, huh?"

Stein grinned in cruel amusement and patted his daughter's slim shoulder. "You've got it from here." Then he wheeled away on his office chair.

Eris wiggled her fingers good-bye at his retreating back, then turned to Black*Star with a confident smirk. "You wanna find out?"

The ninja leaned back, grinning at her. "Oh, I like you." He jumped back a few yards in a single bound and took a fighting stance. "Let's do this."

"Black*Star—" Maka protested, but Eris put up a silencing hand.

"I've got this, Maka," she said, not taking her mismatched eyes off of her challenger.

"But—"

Soul took her hand and interlaced their fingers, surprising the talk out of her. "Don't go charging in," he murmured. "Let them do this."

"But, Soul…" Her protests died on her lips as she looked up into his grinning face. She followed his lead and turned her attention to the brewing battle.

"You ready, new girl?" Black*Star called.

"Waiting on you, bro," Eris answered.

He prepared to jump. "Okay," he said under his breath, knowing she would hear.

Black*Star threw himself into the air with a "Yahoo!" His opponent grinned up at him and launched herself to meet him.

He pulled back his arm, his flexed hand crackling with his soul wavelength. "I've got you now!" he crowed. The redhead smirked again; her hand shot out to press gently against the center of his chest. His eyes widened, as if he knew what was coming.

Her words were soft and flat, like an old, well-loved stuffed animal, yet they reverberated throughout the clearing: "Soul Force." Then Black*Star's eyes rolled back in his head.

He screamed like he had when they first battled Stein; the two seemed frozen in midair. Time resumed, and Black*Star's body rocketed into the sky another ten feet while Eris returned to the ground, landing lightly on her high-heeled feet, her eyes softly closed.

Black*Star landed on his back with a seemingly deafening thud. Eris's eyes opened to rest on his motionless form. Her golden eye had turned a cold grey, her usually silver one showing prominent green spokes and flecks. "Was that it?" she said in a bored tone, practically examining her nails. The ninja at her feet managed to cough in response.

"Black*Star!" Tsubaki cried, rushing to her meister's side.

Eris blinked, her eyes flickering back to their usual colors. She crouched next to the raven-haired weapon and laid a comforting, apologetic hand on her shoulder. "I went a little overboard; sorry. He should be fine in a few minutes."

Tsubaki looked up at her with teary, indigo eyes. "Really? He sounded like he was in so much pain…"

"Yeah, my bad. I didn't do any real damage though, just knocked the wind out of him—" She peered doubtfully down at him. "—I think."

Black*Star wheezed. "A-as if (hack) an attack like (cough) that could (hack) fell the great (choke, wheeze) Black*Starrrrrrr!" He weakly waved his arms in a way that was probably supposed to be triumphant, but just looked sad, given that he was on his back and only just breathing.

His partner gently lifted his head into her lap and considered the redhead crouching beside her. "You can attack with your soul wavelength?"

Eris nodded. "So I can fight with or without a weapon. Whatever's appropriate."

Kid stepped forward, gazing severely at her. "Can you see souls, as well?"

She grinned lopsidedly up at him. "I can, Reaper."

Kid scowled at her. "Maka, Tsubaki," he said sharply.

Maka's head jerked toward him; she had been completely absorbed in the goings-on, her face blank with mute amazement. "Yeah, Kid?"

"Get Black*Star out of here," he ordered, keeping his golden gaze trained on Eris. "I'm your next opponent," he informed her. She blinked at him, then smirked.

"Aren't I popular," she murmured.

Maka raised an eyebrow at Kid, who still wasn't looking at her, but helped Tsubaki move the now-unconscious ninja into the safe shade of the trees.

"Liz, Patty," Kid barked. The sister pistols exchanged looks, but transformed into their meister's waiting hands.

Eris slowly rose from her crouch, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking a hip, tilting her head to one side as she gazed calmly at Kid. "You're fighting with weapons?" she asked.

"Of course," he growled. "I can't fight with just my wavelength."

She mock-pouted. "But I don't have a weapon. No fair~"

"Don't fuck with me!" he burst out. She just smirked again. "Soul! Be her weapon for this."

"Hah?" Soul had been watching all this unfold with his hands in his pockets, as usual.

"Your soul is like Stein's, right?" Kid accused Eris. "Absurdly flexible; you can use any weapon."

She shrugged and said innocently, "Guilty as charged." She turned a winning smile on the scythe. "If you wouldn't mind too terribly, Soul."

He rolled his ruby eyes. "Ugh, fine." With that he transformed, twirling into the sky and landing in Eris's ready hands.

"Show-off," Maka muttered.

"You love it, Maka!" Soul shouted, his scythe-voice tinny.

It was Eris's turn to roll her eyes. She started twirling him around herself experimentally. "What's your damage, anyway, Reaper?" she asked, spinning Soul masterfully behind her back.

"You're asymmetrical," Kid spat, shifting his weight for battle. Listening to his tone, one might think she had slapped a baby.

"Oh, is that the problem?" She stopped twirling and took a stance herself.

"If I win, you change into something symmetrical," Kid declared.

His opponent chuckled. "Sure, darling."

"What if you win, Eris?" Patty called from her meister's hand.

The ginger grinned lopsidedly and said to Kid, "I don't need anything from you."

The reaper gasped. "Damn it! Now the stakes are asymmetrical!" He swung his pistols toward her and started shooting with a roar of OCD-fueled rage. Eris easily evaded his attacks, coming closer to him with every graceful leap.

"Damn it!" Kid fired another shot, almost point-blank, preparing to go hand-to-hand when Eris avoided the attack by letting go of Soul and spinning an inch out of the way, then catching the scythe again neatly in a crouch. _Beautiful..._ he thought, momentarily distracted.

Then she had Soul's blade hooked around the back of his neck, the edge just scraping his skin, her face thisclose to his.

"I win," she chirped with another lopsided grin. Kid stared into her mismatched eyes, caught quite off guard.

Before he could do anything about it, Eris ducked in and kissed him on both cheeks, then skittered gracefully back a few steps, still grinning.

"Symmetrical enough for you?" she purred. He just stared at her some more, stunned, his golden eyes wide.

Soul made a metallic gagging noise.

His current meister giggled and tossed him into the air. "Much obliged, Soul."

He transformed in midair and landed lightly on his feet, surreptitiously checking to see if Maka had witnessed his coolness. "No problem," he said to Eris.

Kid fell over.

Eris cracked up while Soul leaned over the fallen reaper. "Oi, Kid, you alive?"

Liz and Patty transformed out of their meister's hands, crouching over him. "He's never been kissed before," Liz explained long-sufferingly. "Like that even counted."

"He's such a virgin!" Patty chortled.

"Right," Soul deadpanned, turning away. He had to step over Eris, who by this point was literally ROFL. He sauntered over to Maka and Tsubaki, crouching over Black*Star with them. "Is _he_ alive?" he asked skeptically.

Black*Star cracked an eye open at him. "As if I'd die," he croaked.

Soul chuckled and fist-bumped him.

Maka was watching Eris, who was still laughing on the ground (now joined by Patty). "So her soul is like Stein's…" she said to herself.

Her partner followed her line of sight. "'S what it looks like," he confirmed, "only less crazy. I felt her soul while we fought; she's a lot like her 'dad.'" He almost made finger- quotes when he said "dad," but decided that was uncool.

Maka frowned thoughtfully, then met Soul's eyes. "But less crazy?"

He nodded. "Stein's absolutely off his office chair. Eris's madness is about average for our little group, pretty low-risk."

Maka nodded gravely and resumed watching her sister, worry etched into her face.

* * *

**A/N: So the move that distracted Kid was something I saw Balsa the Spear Wielder do on Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. It was done with a spear (obvi) but I think it works with a scythe like Soul. Sorry I couldn't describe it better *sweatdrop* Also, sorry Black*Star fans! I've just been dying to take him down a peg or seven ^^ Updates soon!- Love, Maya**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I haven't put in disclaimers! I do not own Soul Eater, for I am not a Japanese man. I also do not own the song "Wild Ones," that belongs to Flo Rida. It was the inspiration for Eris, so I wanted it in here somewhere. Anywho, read and reveiw, darlings!**

**- Love, Maya**

* * *

Chapter 3

"Where in Europe were you, anyway?" Maka asked.

Eris looked up from her lap, where she had been absently gazing while she rubbed her hair dry. She was spending a week at Maka and Soul's apartment while Stein got a room ready for her at his lab. He was surprisingly enthusiastic about fatherhood.

Eris's gaze dropped from Maka's again. "Venice," she answered in a flat, far-away voice.

Maka turned her chair away from her desk to look at her sister, who was sitting on her bed. "What's with the face?" she asked gently.

The redhead smiled with obviously false brightness. "What face?"

Maka snorted. "Oh, please."

Eris deflated a little. "Yeah, that was bad."

"A bit, yeah," the blonde chuckled. She sobered and asked, "What happened in Venice?"

Her sister rolled her eyes, but not at Maka. "My childhood ended inside a week, that's what."

Maka just looked at her with a quirked eyebrow, silently requesting elaboration.

Eris sighed in resignation and took the towel off her head. "There was a battle. I was defeated, and I lost my weapon partner."

"Oh, no." Maka reached out a sympathetic hand and clutched her sister's pale fingers. "That's awful," she murmured.

The other girl shook her head, her damp, scarlet waves swirling around her shoulders and down her back. "No, I had to wake up and smell the bloodshed sometime. It was just a bit… sudden."

"I see…" Maka looked down.

"No, you don't." The blonde looked up to see her sister smiling sadly at her. Eris patted her hand, almost maternally. "And that's good. I don't want you to ever understand what I went through, because that would mean that you went through it as well." She cast a glance at the wall Maka shared with Soul, then turned back to her with a genuine, lopsided grin. "You don't seem to be in any danger of that, though."

Maka blinked at her in confusion. "What do you mean? You're a stronger meister than me."

"Never you mind, darling." Eris hopped up from her seat, stretching her arms over her head. "What kinda music you got? I feel like rocking out with some hairbrush mics."

Maka gazed up at her thoughtfully, debating further pursuing their earlier topic, but decided against it. Eris seemed to be past her mood; why drag her back into it? "Dunno," she answered her sister's question, rising and pressing play on her iPod. Flo Rida's "Wild Ones" poured from the speakers. Eris snatched up a hairbrush, true to her word, and sang the intro, Maka joining in.

That's when Soul decided to burst in, singing Flo Rida's part right on beat, apparently having elected to join the girls in rocking out. So they had a small dance/karaoke party in Maka's room, Soul trying to catch his meister's eye at the suggestive bits.

Instead, Maka mostly watched her sister, who was an excellent dancer. Noticing Maka's "learning" gaze, Eris took her hands and dragged her through some steps, singing like there was no tomorrow. Soon Maka caught on and added her own moves, letting herself feel the music. Soul gave up trying to get her attention and watched her dance; she was pretty good when she let go, and just pretty when she wasn't paying attention.

When the song ended, Maka flopped heavily onto her bed. "Where'd you learn to dance like that?"

Eris grinned. "Talent." Her expression saddened almost imperceptibly. "My partner helped a bit, though."

The blonde sat up, her face falling as well. "Oh."

Soul's head whipped back and forth between the sisters. "Sudden mood death," he observed.

The redhead turned to him and explained, "I lost my weapon partner during a battle with Arachnophobia."

"Shit, I'm sorry 'bout that," the scythe said sincerely.

His meister looked incredulously at him. "You express condolences with profanity? Really?"

He grinned down at her, baring his sharp teeth. "Fuck yeah, I do." She rolled her olive eyes.

Eris giggled and plopped down next to Maka. "So, what was Death the Kid's deal today, anyway?" she asked, starting to braid her long hair.

Soul waved a dismissive hand. "Never mind him. He's got OCD something fierce and you show up, all asymmetrical—" he let out a low whistle. "Hell, I'm proud of him for not having a fucking stroke just looking at you."

The ginger giggled again. "He's so funny. Cute, too; I dig the suit."

The partners blinked at her, exchanged glances, then simultaneously quirked their brows at her. "Yeah, what was that, anyway, at the end of your battle with him?" Maka asked, while Soul continued to stare in disbelief.

"What was what?" Eris finished her braid and flipped it over her shoulder, meeting her sister's eyes with her own mismatched ones.

The blonde blushed a bit and looked away. "You k-kissed him," she all but whispered.

"Oh, that." Eris flapped her hand glibly. "That was a greeting; thought he'd appreciate it, it being so symmetrical."

"But… just out of the blue, it was kind of weird."

The redhead put her hands up in apology. "Sorry, I've been in Europe too long. No one really thinks anything of it over there, and I thought that that spread here."

Soul recovered and asked, "Where in Europe?"

"Venice, Italy, most recently," she answered, not quite sadly.

"Italy?" Soul drooled a bit, clearly thinking of pasta. "That's cool."

"I know, right?" She grinned at him and said to both of them, "But, seriously, I'll apologize at school tomorrow if he was that bothered."

"Nah," the scythe disagreed, "that'd hurt his manly pride."

His meister looked blankly at him. "Kid doesn't have manly pride."

"Sure, he does," Soul insisted. "He's a man, albeit a very clean one. That's OCD, though, so it doesn't count."

Maka looked thoughtfully past him, crossing her long legs; Eris watched her partner's red eyes hungrily follow the motion. She smiled a secret smile and crossed her legs as well, more deliberately and showily than her sister had. Soul didn't see, for he was altogether too busy drooling over his meister's legs. Eris's smile got wider.

She noisily cleared her throat for his attention, which he reluctantly gave her. "Will an apology make things any worse?" she asked.

He considered. "I guess not, probably."

"Provided you're wearing something symmetrical," Maka put in, only half-joking.

Eris looked down at what she was wearing: one of Soul's shirts and a pair of Maka's shorts. She cast a worried glance at her suitcase.

"You don't own anything symmetrical, do you," her sister said flatly, not really asking.

The redhead gave her a sheepish smile.

Maka gazed back at her consideringly, then glanced down at her not-small chest. "Well, my shirts are too small for you."

Soul snickered and coughed, "Ahem, Tiny-Tits, Ahurm."

His meister Maka-Chopped him expertly without looking away from her sister, who applauded. "You could wear one of Soul's shirts," she went on seamlessly. "He's got some symmetrical stuff, don't you, Soul?" She turned her innocent green gaze on her partner.

He rubbed his head, glancing up into her eyes. "Yeah, sure," he said. "Just don't, like, get your period on anything." Suddenly, he was groaning on the floor, felled by his second Maka-Chop of the minute,

Eris gazed serenely down at him, then at her sister, who held a sizeable hardcover book. "I think there's some smoke coming from the spine of your book, there," she said conversationally.

Maka held up the book and calmly examined it. "Oh, lookit that." She set the deadly thing aside and turned to the other girl. "So, yeah, just borrow a shirt from him tomorrow and it should be all good." She looked down at her unconscious weapon and nudged him with her foot. "You can't sleep here, Soul, go to your own damn room."

Her sister leaned over to get a better look at the boy on the floor. "Er, I think he's dead."

The blonde snorted. "He's fine."

"Am not," Soul groaned from the floor.

Maka pointed triumphantly at him. "See?"

* * *

**A/N: I think Kid's pretty damn manly, Maka.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for the wait! I'll try to keep my updates daily, because I love when other authors do that. Another story is on the way (SoMa) and I may write an AU for Claymore. Anyway, review, my children!**

**-Love, Maya**

* * *

Chapter 4

"That's my goddamn favorite shirt," Soul grumbled.

Eris looked down at the deep red dress-shirt she wore, then smiled up at the scythe. "Which just makes me appreciate this all the more," she said sweetly. He rolled his ruby eyes, slouching and stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"What are you going to say to Kid?" Maka asked.

Her sister tapped her full lower lip thoughtfully. "Uh… sorry for accidentally stealing your innocence?"

Soul laughed. "He would cry."

His partner poked her head into the classroom, whipping it back and forth furtively. "It doesn't look like he's here yet," she said conspiratorially.

"He never shows up before eight, remember?" he drawled.

Maka whirled to face him. "What, still?"

Eris stretched her arms over her head. "Then I've got time," she yawned. "I'll figure something out, probably."

The blonde stared at her, appalled. "Eris, procrastination is wrong," she all but whispered.

Both her scythe and sister pinned her with nearly identical looks of hurt, the only difference being that crocodile tears brimmed in the ginger's mismatched eyes. "How could you say that?" she breathed, her voice just a tad too shaky.

"You should be more respectful of our religious beliefs, Maka," Soul scolded gravely.

"Yeah!" Eris agreed. "Procrasturbation is a way of life!"

The scythe covered his mouth and turned away, his shoulders shaking, arm wrapped around his middle.

The redhead gestured triumphantly to him. "See? He's so hurt, he's crying!"

Maka rolled her olive eyes and ducked her head surreptitiously back into the classroom. "He's laughing," she grumbled.

Soul nodded weakly, still turned away and shaking.

His meister glanced at her watch, ignoring him. "He should be here in about ten minutes." She turned to her sister, who was practically breaking her neck trying not to crack up. "Can you come up with something good in ten minutes?"

Eris grinned evilly. "Oh it'd be good."

Maka frowned at her. "By "good," I mean non-damaging."

The other girl's face fell a few inches. "Oh. Uh, probably."

"Okay, hit me."

Eris quirked an eyebrow. "I'd rather not."

"She means, with some ideas," Soul clarified, having apparently regained control of himself.

The ginger waved a hand, grinning. "Oh, I know, it was just right there…"

"Anyway," Maka went on, "tell me what you're going to say, and I'll tell you if it'll make Kid cry or not, and how hard."

"Make me cry?"

The trio turned to see Death the Kid standing behind them, flanked by his snickering weapons, gazing at them with blank confusion obvious in his golden eyes.

"Kid!" Maka squeaked.

"Bro," Soul greeted him coolly, oozing nonchalance.

The reaper raised an eyebrow. "What are you guys talking about" –he leaned to look past them into the classroom—"in the doorway?"

"Oh, you know, stuff," Maka said, flapping a dismissive hand, her voice at least two octaves too high from nerves.

"Why would I be crying?" Kid asked her wirily.

The blonde just stared dumbly at him.

"Okay, Maka, come on." Her weapon calmly threw an arm around her shoulders and led her away, Patty following to repeatedly poke her face. Liz gave Eris an encouraging smile as she passed into the classroom, which the ginger returned shyly.

She and Kid stood there, not looking at each other, for a few seconds. _So, now that I'm here, I don't know what to say._ She opened her mouth to attempt an apology (Death only knew what would've come out).

"I'm sorry about yesterday." Kid beat her to the punch. Eris gazed at him with raised brows; he scratched at the lines on his head awkwardly. "I was out of line, just flipping out at someone I'd just met over their appearance." He glanced into her mismatched eyes, the back at the floor. "My bad."

She looked at him a bit longer, then shifted her weight onto one foot, pushing her unruly, scarlet waves out of her freckled face. "It's cool," she said, staring into the distance. "I kind of baited you anyway."

"Still, that does not excuse my—"

"Actually," she cut him off, meeting his gaze penetratingly, "I was going to apologize to you today."

He drew a blank. "Whatever for?"

"Kissing you yesterday." Her gaze lost none of its intensity as she gauged his reaction.

"Oh, that." He waved off the apology, but a light blush dusted his cheeks. "That wasn't really a problem."

"Oh?" Her eyebrows were up again, and she seemed to see everything in his eyes; he blushed a little harder.

"Y-yeah," he answered. "It's not like you violated me or something." He glared at the floor in confusion at his word choice. _Really, Kid?_

Eris burst out laughing and patted his shoulder. "No, I guess I didn't," she agreed, linking arms with him. "Come on, let's go to class." Kid wordlessly let her drag him into the room and to their little posse.

Maka looked up and smiled at them. "All good?"

"_Molto bene_," her sister replied with a lopsided grin. Kid cast her a sidelong glance; that smile bothered him. He shivered. _Symmetry is truly everything_, he thought, _if she bothers me this much_.

* * *

**A/N: This was short, but I didn't know what do do with it without having a cliffy. The next chapter will be longer, I promise! Also, the shirt Eris borrowed is, yes, the one Soul wears in the Black Room because I'm sorry, that entire outfit is HOT.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, darlings! What can I say, I live and stuff, so I can't write all the time. But YOU lot! You all put this fanfic on alerts and whatnot, but only three different people reviewed! I am, no kidding, about to throw a hissy fit. Review! Or I shall inflict upon you cliffhangers, I swear it! Anyway, enjoy, or I'll find you. And there is no such thing as a pygmy dolphin, I asked my mom and she knows everything.**

**-Love, Maya**

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Chapter 5

Stein looked up suddenly from the pygmy dolphin tied to the top of his desk, scalpels poised over its vulnerable belly. "Oh, yeah. Kid, Eris, Liz, and Patty, you're wanted in the Death Room."

Soul glanced up from his iPod, with which he had been distracting Maka at her request, and raised his eyebrows at Stein.

Eris, who was letting Liz give her a manicure, stared blankly at her father. "Dad, we've been in class for two hours. Why didn't you say something earlier?"

He looked at her as if it should be obvious. "I wanted my kid in my class."

Soul calmly leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk, gazing at his teacher with something resembling admiration. "You are absolutely batshit." Stein gave him a sickly grin and adjusted his screw.

"That is very unprofessional behavior, Professor Stein," Maka scolded, finally looking up.

Stein met her eyes and inched his scalpel toward the struggling dolphin.

The blonde squeaked and looked at the iPod again, grabbing Soul's arm for his attention. "So, what song is this again?"

He grinned sharkily at her. "'Dolphins.'" (1)

MAKA-CHOP!

Liz finished with Eris's nails and stood. "We should get going; we're pretty late."

Patty clapped her hands, giggling for some reason. "Ooh, is this your first mission, Eris?" she squealed, jumping up on the desk while the class looked on calmly.

Eris rose with Kid, blowing on her nails. "Well, it's my first one directly from Lord Death."

Her father waved a scalpel at her as they passed him to leave. "Careful out there; you can't die before you see your new room!"

The redhead waved her hand dismissively and turned into the hallway. Kid laid a hand on her shoulder and whispered, "Wrong, way."

She did a 180, blushing furiously. "Well, I don't know!" she huffed defensively. "I'm new here, damn it!"

Kid gave her a smug smile and started toward the Death Room. She hurried after him, his weapons snickering the whole time.

When they reached the entrance to the Death Room, Eris stared up at the door with some confusion. "Any reason why it's so big?"

Kid shrugged. "Hey, your dad is weird too." The other meister looked like she might have protested, but she didn't really have a leg to stand on.

Patty calmly kicked the door open. "Let's go!"

"Patty, if you dented that door asymmetrically…" Kid threatened, rushing to scrutinize the boot print. Eris gave Liz a pitying look, to which the pistol responded with a long-suffering sigh. The two linked arms and continued ahead without the crazies.

"So, how'd you end up with Kid, anyway?" the meister asked.

Liz made an Excalibur-face. "He was on our turf, we were high, so we decided to mug him."

Eris gazed blankly at the taller girl, awaiting elaboration. When there was none, she remarked, "So, just… mug a grim reaper, like you do?"

Liz smiled grimly at the distance. "Exactly like you do."

The ginger nodded and looked forward, trying not to understand.

"So, what brings you to Nevada?"

Eris glanced up, then away again. "There was a terrible battle in Venice, so Dad insisted I come home. Not that I put up much of a fight."

The brunette nodded and asked, "You left your weapon partner?"

"I lost him in the battle," she replied sadly, earning an arm-pat of sympathy from Liz, "so I was pretty dazed when Dad said to come home. I don't think I agreed to, but I looked up and I was in an airport stateside."

"I'm sorry," the weapon almost whispered.

"Not your fault." Eris gave her a sad smile, then looked up at the guillotine-toris. "How many of these things are there?" she asked, clearly changing the subject.

Liz obliged and answered, "88, I think."

"Of course, there are 88," Kid put in, catching up to the girls. "88 is a beautiful, perfect number."

His weapon caught Eris's mismatched eyes and rolled her own blue ones. The redhead giggled as they approached the platform where Lord Death himself—er—stood.

"Heya, hiya, hello!" chirped the Grim Reaper.

"Hello, Father," Kid said.

"Hi, Lord Death!" said the Thompsons.

Death leaned over a bit, apparently looking at Eris, who had clasped her hands behind her back nervously. "You must be Eris, Stein's daughter," he said. "Nice to meet you!" He sprouted a giant hand for shaking.

The girl looked at it, wondering how she was to shake such a hand, finally electing to wrap her much-smaller hand around one square finger and shake that timidly. "Nice to meet you too, Lord Death."

"Hee-hee!" He straightened and addressed the group, "Okay, now that everyone's acquainted, I have an assignment for you all, in Milan."

"Ooh, shopping," Liz all but squealed, grabbing Eris's arm. "I can shop with someone other than Patty, who breaks the store, and Kid, who randomly gets—er—upset!"

Eris smiled weakly at her, then went back to anxiously eyeing Lord Death. Had he heard about Dante…?

"Enriqueta Martí (2) is causing problems in downtown Milan," he explained in his weirdly chipper voice, "but she's oddly strong—just this side of pre-kishin—which is strange because she started down the path of the Kishin fairly recently."

"Any idea as to why?" Kid asked.

"Hmm?" Death cocked his head at his son. "Hmm."

"Dad, we could use all the information you have on this."

He tilted his head the other way, then nodded (probably). "Enriqueta Martí seems to be mostly interested in the souls of children."

"That doesn't explain why she got so powerful so quickly," Eris said.

The Grim Reaper shifted uneasily. "Well, we think she may have the support of Arachnophobia. There have been sightings of their… newer operatives."

Kid could feel Eris stiffening beside him. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye, then turned to look at her carefully. Her face was pale, making her asymmetrical freckles stand out more than usual, her hands tightly fisted at her sides, her spine and shoulders rigid, and a cold sweat had broken out on her forehead. He reached out and brushed his fingers against her arm. "You okay?" he asked softly.

She twitched and jerked her head up to meet his concerned gaze, her mismatched eyes wide and cornered. Then she shook her head and looked away, a strained smile on her face. "Yeah, fine," she lied obviously, shakily.

"It's your weapon, isn't it?" Lord Death said gently, not really asking.

Eris flinched and stared up at him, stricken. "I-"

"It's not your fault," the Grim Reaper soothed. "I know it wasn't your fault; you had nothing to do with it."

She stared at the floor, her eyes brimming with tears. "Didn't I?" she whispered.

Kid looked to the Thompsons for clarification. When Patty only shrugged, Liz cleared her throat and said with a worried glance at Eris, "She lost her weapon in a battle. I guess that battle was with Arachnophobia." Lord Death gazed heavily at the ginger meister, who wouldn't look up from the floor.

"Oh, dear," Kid sighed, watching Eris as well. He carefully, awkwardly put a comforting arm around her shoulders as the tears began to fall.

"I ask this mission of you, Eris," Death said, unusually somber, "because you have been all over Europe. You lived in Milan for a time, right?"

She nodded hesitantly and looked up at him. "Uh-um… will… w-will they have, um…?" She trailed off helplessly, her voice hoarse with tears and distress.

Lord Death only shook his head regretfully. "We have no way of knowing."

Eris nodded in resigned understanding, leaning against Kid as her tears came faster. He watched the exchange between the girl he held and his father with suspicion; he was obviously not getting the whole story. Squeezing Eris a little tighter, he thought, _What is going on?_

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**A/N: So kind of a cliffy. I can do much worse, don't push me! Also, I love you all, and thanks for reading.**_  
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**(1) Dolphins: a song from the movie _Bedazzled_, with Elizabeth Hurley as Satan. It's a song about how adorable and sweet dolphins are. Actually, cross a dolphin, and he will get his friends and they will fuck you up 0.0 All animals are like that. Anywho...**

**(2)Enriqueta Martí: a Spanish serial killer, specializing in children and child prostitution. Pretty awful. Found her on Wikipedia, trying to keep up with the Soul Eater thing of using the names of actual criminals for target pre-kishins.**


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